Ephs Drop Third Straight, Fall to Bowdoin 8-1
WILLIAMSTOWN - The Williams College men's ice hockey (5-8-1) surrendered three goals in the second period, en route to an 8-1 defeat at the hands of NESCAC power Bowdoin (11-3) Saturday.The Ephs badly needed the win, but ended up only being competitive for a period, as Bowdoin's big second period proved to be too much. The Ephs finish the weekend 0-2 (Friday they fell to Colby 7-5), and stretch their losing streak to three games - nullifying their previous win-streak of three games that immediately preceded the teams recent rough patch.
The first period began with a bang as both teams traded goals in the games opening five minutes. Bowdoin struck first when Colin MacCormick converted a Mike Collins pass only 4:17 into the period. The Ephs evened things back up 43
seconds later when Brett Haraguchi recorded his team's lone goal of the contest.
The Ephs kept up the pressure throughout in the middle part of the period and succeeded in forcing the majority of the play onto Polar Bear ice. However, despite near misses from Alex Smigelski and Matt Masucci, the Ephs were unable to capitalize on their chances.
The Polar Bears battled back late in the period and netted a goal with only 1:40 remaining when Mike Corbelle beat the Eph defense unassisted. Neither team really threatened for the rest of the period, and the Ephs went into the first intermission down 2-1.
The second period began with another early Bowdoin goal. This time 3:31 into the period when, in a reversal of the games first goal, Mike MacCormick corralled a loose puck behind the Eph net and then fed it to a streaking Mike Collins who pushed it in between Eph goal tender Rick Redmond's (23 saves) legs to make it 3-1.
The Ephs dodged a bullet only 1:42 later when another apparent Bowdoin goal was narrowly avoided when Corbelle slaps-shot from the right side ricocheted off the crossbar. However, the Polar Bears refused to be denied and made good three minutes later, when Ryan Leary exploited the power play and tapped in a short pass from Ryan Blossom, ballooning the Eph deficit to three goals at 4-1.
Redmond, making only his second start of the season, received little help in the second period as the Eph defense struggled to control a Polar Bear offense that appeared to be everywhere at once - especially around the Williams net. Redmond would surrender another goal before giving way to Marc Pulde (17 saves) with 7:24 remaining in the second period.
Pulde responded to the opportunity and was a big reason why the Ephs were able to stop the bleeding in the later portion of the second period. However, despite blunting the Bowdoin attack, the Ephs still could generate little offense and ended the period down 5-1.
Unfortunately for the Ephs, the beginning of the third period began with another Bowdoin goal – again from MacCormick and Collins, with MacCormick finishing off a Collins pass only 3:10 into the final period. Bowdoin would add an additional
two goals in the next 13 minutes of the contest, pushing their advantage to seven goals.
Despite being down 8-1, the Ephs did manage to balance out play for the remainder of the third period, as the contest settled into a contested series of runs and counter runs. However, thanks to the stellar performance of Bowdoin
goaltender Paul Decoster (32 saves), the Polar Bears were able to keep the Ephs out of the net and preserve the victory at 8-1.
"Every team goes through something, and we seem to be going through ours right now," said Eph coach Bill Kangas. "Bowdoin is a great team that took advantage of their opportunities, we just need to keep playing and getting
better."
The Ephs begin the first leg of their four game road trip Friday, Jan. 25, against New England College.
